Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 995 of 1503)

      Parcells staying with Dolphins in 2009, or so they say

      January 5, 2009 /

      Despite rumors that he could potentially return to the sidelines next season, Bill Parcells is apparently staying in the Miami Dolphins’ front office for 2009.

      Bill ParcellsWayne Huizenga may have left Dolphin Stadium as majority owner of the Dolphins for the last time this afternoon, but before exiting he revealed some news Miami fans will likely welcome.
      Huizenga said Bill Parcells is coming back next year.

      “Bill is going to stay,” Huizenga said. “He told me the day before yesterday he was going to stay.”

      I also spoke with incoming owner Stephen Ross who indicated he expects Parcells to stay.

      That’s all well and good, but there’s still no guarantee that Parcells will stay. This is the same man who has revoked his commitment to the Atlanta Falcons twice (once as a coach and once as a GM) and essentially had a deal in place to become the Jets head coach while he was coaching the Patriots in the 1996 Super Bowl. The guy does whatever he wants and can be as fickle as Brett Favre in the offseason.

      He should stay in Miami because he’s done an absolutely amazing job with the Dolphins this season. But I’ll believe that he’s staying when I see his ass in the Fins’ skybox next season.

      NFL

      LT to miss rest of playoffs?

      January 5, 2009 /

      The San Diego Tribune is reporting that Chargers’ running back LaDainian Tomlinson could miss the remainder of the postseason with a groin injury.

      LaDainian TomlinsonWhile they’re using phrases like “day to day” and “we’ll see,” no one in the Chargers organization truly expects LaDainian Tomlinson to play Sunday at Pittsburgh.

      But the Chargers will not place Tomlinson on injured reserve, in the hope that he still could play in the postseason.

      “He might be able to play in another week if we were able to go on,” coach Norv Turner said. “Or maybe he could play in another week after that.”

      The likelihood, according to sources, is that Tomlinson’s severely strained groin will keep him out the rest of the postseason and will require surgery. But Turner reported Sunday that the injury “is not any worse” after Tomlinson played on it Saturday.

      Good thing for Darren Sproles. If they can, the Chargers are going to have to lock up Sproles in the offseason or if they can’t sign him, draft a back that can be the future. Maybe with a full offseason of rest, LT can bounce back and be productive again next year, although it’s doubtful that he’ll ever be as productive as he was during his MVP days. It’s time for the Chargers to think about the future.

      NFL

      The Eagles aren’t the matchup the Giants want

      January 4, 2009 /

      Brian WestbrookTom Coughlin and the New York Giants aren’t going to admit it (at least not publicly), but the Philadelphia Eagles weren’t the matchup they wanted for their first playoff game.

      Thanks to Donovan McNabb’s 300-yard passing day, Brian Westbrook’s 71-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass and Jim Johnson’s blistering defense, the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in their Wild Card playoff game Sunday at the Metrodome.

      Had the Vikings won, the Giants would be hosting the Arizona Cardinals next weekend – the same Arizona Cardinals that have played like complete crap on the East Coast all season. But thanks to the Philly’s victory, the G-Men “lucked out” and get the sixth-seeded Eagles. They luck out by getting a team that has already beaten them once at Giants Stadium, has a seasoned playoff quarterback in McNabb, a secondary that rivals any defensive backfield in the league, and will face a defense that blitzes more than Chris Berman stutters through a highlight.

      Even though the Eagles have largely been inconsistent this season, they aren’t your typical sixth-seeded playoff team. That said, Philly has to do a better job against the run next week because unlike the Vikings, the Giants have a quarterback in Eli Manning that can make plays in the passing game.

      The Eagles allowed Minnesota to rush for 148 total yards and were gashed by a 40-yard Adrian Peterson touchdown run. If they can’t stop the Giants’ dynamic rushing game, Manning will likely strike for big plays via the pass. Philly definitely has the edge in terms of their secondary vs. the Giant wideouts, but it won’t matter if the Eagle safeties have to sell out to stop the run every play and leave the corners on an island. Eventually Manning will pick them apart.

      Again though, there’s no doubt the Giants would have rather faced the Cardinals and allowed the Carolina Panthers to take their chances with the Eagles. But with Philly’s win, fans are treated to an NFC East clash with everything on the line. And what makes this matchup even more compelling is that both of these teams know each other so well. It’s going to make for a great week leading up to the contest, and the game itself will likely live up to expectations.

      Next weekend couldn’t get here soon enough.

      NFL

      Inexperience at quarterback cripples Vikings

      January 4, 2009 /

      Tarvaris JacksonEven though he had quarterbacked his team to a 3-1 finish down the stretch of the regular season, questions remained about whether or not Tarvaris Jackson should start under center when the Minnesota Vikings eventually claimed a spot in the postseason.

      Although not definitively, those questions were answered Sunday when the Vikings fell to the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles 26-14 in the final game of Wild Card weekend.

      Jackson wasn’t bad, but he was largely ineffective. He completed 15 of 35 passes for just 164 yards and threw a costly interception in which Philly cornerback Asante Samuel returned for a 43-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Despite having some success using his legs over the past month, Jackson also only attempted to run the ball twice while finishing with 17 yards on those two carries.

      Jackson got plenty of help from Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor and the running game, which totaled 148 yards against a solid Philadelphia defense. Peterson also had two touchdowns despite getting dinged up in the first half, and provided a spark early in the second quarter with his 40-yard touchdown run.

      But despite only being down 16-14 at halftime, Jackson couldn’t make enough plays in the passing game to produce a single point for Minnesota in the second half. As expected, Philly defensive coordinator Jim Johnson used a variety of blitz packages to confuse the young signal caller and even when the Viking defense produced key scoring opportunities by creating turnovers, Jackson and the offense still couldn’t muster even a field goal.

      Not that Jackson looked rattled because he didn’t, but it’s hard for a young quarterback playing in his first playoff game to be extraordinary, which he certainly was not. Brad Childress’s game plan was to run the ball effectively with Peterson and then allow Jackson to take shots in the passing game in hopes Philly’s defense would start to inch closer to the line of scrimmage. Although the running game was good, Eagles’ defensive backs blanketed Viking receivers and limited the big plays by keeping everything in front of them and making sound tackles.

      You can’t fault Childress for going with Jackson (I certainly don’t, especially when you consider Gus Frerotte hadn’t played in over a month), because Tarvaris had the hot hand. He was the quarterback that got the Vikings to the playoffs by playing so well down the stretch. But in the end, Jackson’s inexperience doomed Minnesota and some might question why the more seasoned Frerotte wasn’t under center for the Vikes’ most important game of the year.

      NFL

      Ed Reed once again proves the value of playmaking safeties

      January 4, 2009 /

      Ed ReedWhen Ed Reed intercepted five passes and made 85 total tackles as a rookie for the Baltimore Ravens in 2002, he changed the way NFL teams view safeties in terms of the draft. He was a true playmaker that could not only blanket the field in coverage, but also erase potential mistakes and be a force against the run.

      Since then, more safeties like the Colts’ Bob Sanders, the Steelers’ Troy Polamalu and the Redskins’ LaRon Landry have been taken in the first two rounds of the NFL draft (or in the cases of Polamalu and Landry, the top 20 of the NFL draft), because teams have come to realize just how much of an impact safeties could have in the right defensive scheme.

      In the Ravens’ 27-9 playoff victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Reed once again demonstrated what a dynamic playmaker at the safety position could do for a defense. He intercepted Chad Pennington twice, one of which he returned 64-yards for a touchdown, and helped blanket Miami receivers for four quarters.

      It’s only fair to note that Reed’s first interception was a poorly under thrown pass by Pennington, but the touchdown return essentially turned the momentum of the game in the Ravens’ favor. And Reed’s second interception in the second half (in which he jumped an underneath route in the red zone), put a dagger in the Dolphins’ comeback hopes. He changed the momentum of the game with just two plays and he’s a huge reason why Baltimore now has a date with No. 1-seeded Tennessee next weekend in the Divisional Round.

      While establishing solid offensive and defensive lines and having a quality quarterback still remain the focal points for teams, enlisting a playmaker at safety should continue to be a top priority for playoff contending teams. Unfortunately getting their hands on one isn’t as easy as picking up toilet paper at the local grocery store, but it seems that the teams that have top safeties are the ones often making the playoffs on a consistent basis.

      The Ravens-Titans game next weekend will feature two of the better safeties in the NFL with Reed matching wits with youngster Michael Griffin. Both teams played outstanding defensively this year and with the way the Ravens handled veteran Chad Pennington on Sunday, it’ll be interesting to see how Kerry Collins fares next weekend. What a great defensive battle that game will be.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑